The fifth USS Boston was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with Atlanta as the Atlanta class, in others as the Boston class. Boston was laid down on 15 November 1883 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania, launched on 4 December 1884, and commissioned on 2 May 1887 at the New York Navy Yard, Captain Francis M. Ramsay in command.